Well isolation valves are included between well-side equipment and pump-side equipment in wellbore operation systems. Well isolation valves must be included in every wellbore operation system used to pump fluid (e.g., liquid, gas or mixtures thereof) from a wellbore to ensure safety of the operation.
In typical wellbore operation systems, multiple lines of piping components with small inner diameters are used to carry fluid between a wellbore and one or more pumps. In such systems, a well isolation valve must be disposed in-line with the piping components. If it is necessary to isolate the well-side equipment from the pump-side equipment, each isolation valve must be configured to have a closed configuration. Such configuration is usually performed manually.
It may also be necessary to bleed off pressure from the well-side equipment and/or from the pump-side equipment. Bleeding off pressure may prevent wellbore fluid from leaking into the environment or may prevent damage to the wellbore operation system equipment. A holding vessel may be attached to either the pump-side equipment or to the well-side equipment to contain the fluid which flows out of the equipment when the pressure is bled off. A different holding vessel may be attached to each side of the equipment when the equipment is set up before the wellbore operation begins. It may not be possible to connect both sides of the equipment to the same holding vessel.
Isolating the well-side equipment from the pump-side equipment and bleeding pressure off from either side may be time-consuming. Connecting and testing the well isolation valves and the holding vessels on site may also be time-consuming. Further, the equipment required to house the well isolation valves may take up a significant amount of space.